Bangkok’s 60-year-old police chief, Lt. Gen. Kamronwit Toopkracha, put in a creditable performance in an exhibition match against Thailand’s new teenage badminton star, Ratchanok Inthanon, on Wednesday – although that perhaps was because he had recruited Thai international player Grithtin Kridtanukoon to help him in a doubles game against the newly crowned world champion, who was assigned Lt. Gen. Kamronwit’s deputy as her partner. Read More »

Taking up badminton isn’t a conventional way out of poverty, unless, that is, you’re Ratchanok Inthanon.

The 18-year-old Thai born to a pair of factory workers has rocketed to prominence here over the past few days after defeating China’s Olympic champion Li Xuerui in a tense match to become women’s world champion at the Badminton World Federation in Guangzhou on Sunday. On Tuesday she met with the country’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at Government House, where she received a cash reward of 2 million baht, or $64,000, for her exploits. She already has done the rounds of the country’s most popular television talk shows and been photographed for one of its most prestigious magazines. Read More »

The failure of Indonesia’s badminton team to win a medal at the London Olympics, marking the end of a gold-medal streak that dates back to Barcelona 1992, has prompted some to ask: Is something wrong with the way the sport is managed?

Many Indonesians think so. Indonesia has traditionally been a badminton powerhouse, having won the Thomas Cup world team tournament 13 times, and the team remains a force to be reckoned with. But in recent years it has had a drought of prestigious titles outside of the Olympics, prompting lots of soul-searching in a country that treats badminton players as major stars. Read More »

Historically, badminton has been one of Indonesia’s strongest events and this year, one of its best chances for gold lies with the powerful mixed doubles team of Lilyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad.

The duo has emerged as Indonesia’s most dependable badminton mixed doubles pair, with a ranking of #4 in the world. Natsir has been to the Olympics before; in Beijing, she won a silver medal with her then-teammate Nova Widianto. Natsir was later paired with Ahmad – who is going to his first Olympics this year – in 2010. Since then, the pair has won international championships such as the Macau Open and the Chinese Taipei GP Gold. They are confident they can maintain the winning tradition of Indonesian badminton. Read More »

About Indonesia Real Time

Indonesia Real Time provides analysis and insight into the region, which includes Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei. Contact the editors at SEAsia@wsj.com.

Jakarta residents share their views on how Gov. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has been running Jakarta and whether they're worried about plans by city council to investigate his handling of this year's budget.